


Sugar

by GalaxyGhosty



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Asexual Character, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyGhosty/pseuds/GalaxyGhosty
Summary: AU. When Mark meets Jack, he brings him coffee: black, with two sugars.





	Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> I know I just posted TMD but I wrote this little drabble in sort of a haze. I'm...strangely proud of it?
> 
> Really hope you guys like it. Don't have a lot to say about it other than--it's kinda personal.
> 
> Enjoy!

He meets Jack on a sunny day in October. 

The student center bursts with the smell of coffee, and Mark sees him sitting in the corner, tapping away at his laptop. His green hair radiates warmth, happiness, and eccentricity, all things he could really use in his life. He's wearing these black jeans with rips in the knees, a band t-shirt for a group he doesn't recognize, a jacket pulled loosely over his arms, stuffed up to his elbows, and he somehow looks perfect, despite being a college student.

Wade catches Mark staring, and tells him to buy him a coffee: black with two sugars. 

Mark is stupid, so he does.

Jack's eyes are blue, a brilliant blue and when he sees the coffee in Mark's hands, he gazes at it with scrutiny, as he should. He knows that accepting things from strangers is typically a bad idea, anyhow. So Mark's lips form the words _Wade_ and _told me what you like_ and watching those pretty eyes soften is one of the most brilliant things in the whole world. He accepts the cup and drinks from it gratefully, offering a charming smile and an invitation to sit with him.

He is ethereal in his own right, and Mark's never met anyone who can be so wordy but somehow so entertaining to watch. He's all hands and exaggerated words, a darling accent that sounds just a touch too Irish, but not enough to be obvious. Jack is entrancing, somehow, and Mark finds he wants to spend every second of every hour learning every tic and quirk he has. 

They exchange numbers. Mark texts him the next day.

~~

Becoming friends with Jack is easy. Spending time with him even more so. It's almost as though they were always meant to be together, and Mark plans to accept his fate with open arms. 

Everyday, Mark buys him a coffee and Jack drinks it, always making the comment it is the best coffee he's ever had. Every so often, Jack will buy him one in return, and though Mark can't stand black coffee, he drinks it anyway just to see Jack smile, crooked teeth and all, before he covers it up with his fingers. 

He only stops doing it when Mark casually mentions he likes his teeth. 

The weeks and months blend together. Sometimes it feels like he's known Jack forever, other times for days, but never does it seem awkward. Jack's touches are friendly, inviting, and he's got such a creative eye. A passion for music.

One day, he invites Mark back to his dorm to listen to music. His roommate, Felix, is out, and so Jack puts headphones over his ears, lays him down, and tells him to close his eyes. A sweet tune rumbles in his ear, followed by vocals that he can't even listen to, because all he can feel is Jack's hand overtop of his, tapping to the beat. 

When Jack asks him if he liked it, Mark says he adores it. He puts on another song and Mark is lost in the sensation of the rhythm in his chest, and Jack's rapid fingers pressing the notes into his skin. 

~~

Mark kisses Jack for the first time in the middle of January, sometime after the new year. They're meeting for coffee again when Jack declares he wants to go for a walk. He says he hates the cold but he likes the look of it, and coffee is best enjoyed when it's cold outside. 

They reach the courtyard of campus and Jack tells his grand holiday stories, his crazy siblings and being back home in Ireland again. Mark is so entranced with the way he forms the words, the sentences, the phrases—he could write novels about how Jack says so much just from his body alone. 

Jack asks him why he's staring, and without even thinking about it, Mark steps into his space and kisses him, chaste and gentle.

The way Jack's breath smells of coffee is amazing, and he's laughing as he murmurs back to him, _I wondered when you'd do that. C'mere and do it again._

In his accent. In his favorite tone of voice. It is the first of many kisses he has with Jack, each one becoming his favorite. 

~~

They hold hands. They kiss in Jack's dorm. They kiss in Mark's dorm. They kiss in the hallways before class, the courtyard after. Felix, Jack's roommate, is disgusted but amused. Wade cheers him on every step of the way. 

He never gets tired of the way Jack's fingers wrap around his, anchoring him, how his lips press secrets into his mouth, his cheeks. He tries to sing melodies back to him, burying them beneath his collar, over his heart, so Jack will never forget, so he will always know the way he makes Mark feel.

_I love you_ comes out by accident, when Jack's fingers are lost in his hair, wearing Mark's jacket like they're sixteen and high school sweethearts. Jack murmurs the words back, with no hesitation, blue eyes shimmering like starlight.

Mark has always loved the stars, even more so when he sees them in Jack's eyes. 

~~

The first real hiccup with Jack occurs four months after they start dating. Felix is out with his girlfriend for the night, and so Mark comes over with Jack. They turn up the music and dance on their own for a little while, playing video games and everything is calm. They begin to kiss, like always, and things get a little heated.

He's never really minded that Jack hasn't instigated any sort of sexual activity, despite it being the token “time.” Mark's always felt like there's no set time limit on that sort of thing, and it always happens naturally. So when Jack and he get a little heated, as he presses Jack against the wall, not hard, but firm, he thinks it's all pretty agreed upon. 

But Jack starts to shake, suddenly, and not in a good way. His whole form seems to shudder, and Mark pulls away, concerned. Jack blinks furiously, swallowing what may be a lump in his throat, before offering a smile back. 

His mouth forms, _I'm not ready yet_ and Mark leaves it at that. 

They spend the rest of the night cuddling and watching Netflix on Jack's bed, fingers laced together.

~~

It keeps happening. Him and Jack will get a little heated, and then Jack will pull away, abruptingly ending contact. 

Sometimes it's when they're kissing, and sometimes it's when Mark's fingers roam a little too far. He gets caught up in his head sometimes and only when Jack grabs his wrist does he realize what he's doing, before he apologizes profusely. Jack never seems to mind—if anything, he seems a little too grateful that Mark _stops_. 

Along with sexual stuff, Jack is against sleeping in the same bed together. He once woke Mark up at 4AM because he needed to go back to his own dorm, even though they could have easily just slept through the night. But Mark had nodded, bleary and tired, before kissing him sloppily goodnight—again—heading back to his own room. 

Mark doesn't ask, because Jack will tell him if he wants to, right?

Jack always seems to be guilty about it, even going so far as to press his face into Mark's shoulder, whispering _it's not you, it's not you_ over and over again, and Mark just smoothes through his unkempt hair and tells him it doesn't matter to him. 

Every morning, he brings him coffee: black, with two sugars to let him know that he still loves him.

~~

The spring comes without warning, the sun vibrant and radiating happiness. Everything is going well, save for finals, and over the spring holiday, Mark asks Jack to come home with him.

He does, and his mom loves him. Tom, his brother, also seems fond of Jack. Jack seems incredibly comfortable with the two most important people in his life—and time doesn't seem like a factor here. It doesn't feel like he's only been with Jack for a little over half a year. Time feels arbitrary, irrelevant, because they just fit with one another. 

His family is gone at the store when him and Jack makeout, the door locked and the soft noise of a band that Mark can't remember the name of drowning everything out. Everything feels so fluid, especially when Jack lets him unzip his hoodie, letting him smooth his hands over his pale tummy, how Jack even nips at his neck. 

But when Mark begins to unzip his pants, Jack loses it. He pushes Mark away, swallowing thickly with wide eyes, before realizing what he'd done. Mark runs a hand through his hair, confused and a tiny bit frustrated (only a little) and Jack begins to cry. 

Jack crying, he finds, is a soft thing. He doesn't loudly sob, he doesn't bawl and bleat as Mark would have expected someone as wordy as him would. Instead, he's just so quiet about it, a controlled storm, and he whispers the words over and over.

_Asexual. I don't like sex. It's not you. It's not you. I'm sorry._

He doesn't really know what the word means, so he recites the only thing he knows, and that's _it's okay_. 

~~

Mark does some reading. Asexuality is confusing, to him at least, but he thinks he gets it.

Jack doesn't like sex. He doesn't want to have sex. For his own reasons, he doesn't want to do anything sexual with Mark.

It bothers him a small bit, but it certainly isn't the worst news he's ever had. Sex isn't his end-all-be-all, and if Jack doesn't want to have sex, it's fine. His right hand has served him pretty well in the past, anyhow.

When he learns all that he can from the Internet, he goes to Jack with coffee in hand. He sits him down and hands him the cup, asking him to explain his unique asexuality to him.

He doesn't like sex. Maybe someday he will with Mark, but he doesn't like sex. 

_Neutral_ , he says. _I'm sex-neutral._

Mark tells him okay, and says he'll never pressure him. Jack doesn't understand. 

_I didn't fall in love you with you because I wanted sex_ , Mark tells him. _I fell in love with you because you're an amazing person, and if we don't ever have sex, it doesn't matter to me. I just want you._

Jack looks like his heart is about to break into two, but he drops the coffee cup in favor of kissing Mark, sensual and deep, like he doesn't know what to do with himself. 

It's sweeter than any coffee he's ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos! It really means a lot. 
> 
> Please come visit me at galaxyghosty.tumblr.com!


End file.
